Chemical Equations
by ZeDancingHobbit
Summary: He falls in love in AP Chemistry. High School AU. For Day 6 of AlMei week. One-shot. Complete.


**Basically I've found that I'm absolutely in love with High School AUs. And what better way to write them than for Day 6 (AU/Crossover) of AlMei week? So here it is. I hope you enjoy it. **

**Note: the translations are from Google, so if there's any discrepancies I apologize. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. **

**OoOoO**

She meets him in AP Chemistry class.

A transfer student from Xing, she walks into class and immediately feels out of place. So much flawless white skin. Brown and blond hair. Round eyes. All staring at her and her abnormality. And she has to sit next to the blondest of them all.

Thankfully the seat is in the back, and he's quiet, and even though students continually turn to sneak glances at her it's a lot better than it might have been at the front.

And when she picks up the pencil that she knocks to the floor, his hand reaches for it at the same time. A whispered "Thanks" dies on her lips as she stares into eyes the deepest gold she has ever seen.

_He falls in love in AP Chemistry class. _

_Sitting in the back, quiet and unobtrusive as always, he is looking forward to listening to his teacher continue talking about his favorite subject when it's interrupted by the arrival of the new Xingese girl. Obviously uncomfortable, obviously out of her league, she shuffles to the back-to _him_-where the teacher directs her-_oh god, she's right here.

_His eyes immediately go downwards. _

_But not before he catches a glimpse of beautiful black eyes, sleek black hair twisted back into braids, and an open face. And when she drops her pencil, common decency compels him to pick it up. _

_His hand tingles for hours where her fingers lightly brush the contours of his skin. _

She makes a friend in the blond boy.

They eventually wind up sitting together at lunch, both loners-"_My brother usually sits with me, but this year he has a different lunch period_"-and she finds she delights in his company. Smart, funny, frank, polite, she can spend hours listening to him recount stories of his volatile brother or the research that seems to engulf his being. When she asks him about it, a funny shrug and the answer of "I just really like chemistry" seem to be all he has to offer on the subject.

Which she is fine with.

And as months pass and snow gathers on the frosty windows of the school, Mei finds her insides melting.

_He falls hard for the Xingese girl. _

_Lunch becomes his favorite time of the day, now-replacing exercise or research or even just fiddling around with random instruments of science, which serves to shock Ed. "What's wrong with you?" he questions as Al forsakes chemistry-his _life_-for spending hours searching the internet for information on Xing. Al blows him off with the excuse that he has a geography project coming up. And maybe he does-except that the project involves discussing Xing with a certain black-haired girl and watching her eyes light up as she talks about the customs and landscape and everything involving her country. _

_Maybe it's the same way he lights up when he hears her name. _

She is confused by the boy with the dead mother.

When she asks about his family, he simply says his mother is dead, father absent and he lives with his brother before artfully steering the conversation towards a different subject. She's seen Ed before-a short, blond, hot-tempered ball of fire willing to take a swing at anyone and smarter than anyone she'd ever seen. He's nearly the polar opposite of Alphonse-the kind, gentle, easy-tempered giant who is ever ready with a smile.

Which surprises her, because she wonders how anyone who has gone through what he has-the death of his mother, a terrible accident that had left him nearly dead from a freak illness and took his brother's limbs, and subsequent tough life of finding a cure-can still find the strength to smile at birds and laugh at life.

_He is mystified by the girl with too many siblings. _

_Careful conversation tell him she is one of many, all vying for her father's affection. Her half-brother has even apparently come to the same high school-a boy named Ling who eats too much and always has a girl named Lan Fan ready to defend him. Mei hates his guts. _

_Alphonse hides the fact he thinks she's cute when she's angry. _

_He wonders at her-her work ethic, her stubbornness, her willingness to do anything in order to win a fuller piece of the inheritance for herself, her mother, and her full siblings. He admires the way she struggles to find something that would endear her further to her father's heart. _

_Sure, his father is absent, but his mother was always kind and encouraging and warm-nothing like the way Mei's mother seems to be. So when Mei comes seething to him, looking utterly fed up with the whole business, he does his best to cheer her up and see another one of the smiles he so desperately craves_.

Mei learns from the boy with a head full of dreams.

He wants to travel the world, he tells her, embarrassment tinging his cheeks pink (_god, that's really cute_). Even though it might not happen for a while, the result of some deal he has with some company, someday he will pack up and experience all the globe has to offer. He seems to be particularly interested in the eastern part of the world, which pleases her. It is a beautiful place.

In the meantime, they talk at length about the other knowledge crammed in his head-mainly chemistry. It seems he knows all about it, though apparently Ed knows more (_Good god_, she thinks). It's nice, because she is smart enough to learn and still be able to debate with him for hours.

And when he asks if she will work on the big end-of-the-year chemistry project with him, she doesn't lie to herself and pretend she hadn't prayed for him to.

_Alphonse learns from the girl from another land. _

_She's excited when he confesses he wants to travel to the east, and is willing to tell him all she can. She even teaches him little phrases in Xingese, both useful (Where is the restroom? _Xǐshǒujiān zài nǎlǐ?_) and not (I love you. _Wǒ ài nǐ_) that he tucks away in the back of his mind. _

_The mind quickly becoming filled with the thoughts of the chemistry project coming up. And as he watches her be willing to learn all she can from him, yet still stay humble and witty as ever, he realizes he doesn't want to work with anyone else. _

_After she agrees, he doesn't pretend he wasn't afraid she would say no. _

She is scared by the boy who loves so well.

She watches him talk about his family and friends and the world and realizes she can never match the grandness of his heart or the kindness in his soul.

_He is frightened of the girl with the big heart. _

_He sees her dedication and wonders, if Ed hadn't been there, if he would still be sick and numb and helpless. Or dead. She is much more brave than he. _

She does not deserve the boy with the gentle soul.

She is too callous and hard for such a man to love.

She wishes she wasn't.

_He does not deserve the brave girl. _

_She probably thinks him weak and unconfident. Which makes him even less so. _

_As the year goes by it gets harder to talk._

She loves the boy named Alphonse.

Which is why she sits at his kitchen table and tries to break the awkward silence that has come to replace their previous camaraderie. It's why she tries to puzzle out formulas for the project instead of running for the hills.

It's why her body thrums with the knowledge that he's right. There.

She pulls a book closer, burying her nose into it to distract herself from the vibrations in her soul. She tries not to notice how he shifts ever closer-_closer, closer!_ her body shrieks. She draws in a deep breath, stammering out something about a theorem as he lays a hand on the book and draws it carefully away from her face.

Her breath grows ragged as his face nears, slowly, as if making sure she has time to say "No". Her stomach swims with apprehension-is she still talking about science? -and then he whispers, "Mei."

Longing. Desire. Love?

She tips up her face, ready to blurt out how she should go (_oh, but she wants this_), but then his lips are touching hers with a burning, careful desire and she has approximately .2 seconds in which to decide whether to stay safe or plunge off the deep end.

_Alphonse loves the girl named Mei. _

_Which is why he has to put an end to the awkward lunches, the awkward days. Which is why he suggests they study at his house, where Ed is gone and they can be alone. _

_Which is why he instantly regrets taking the plunge, because if Mei rejects him his heart may just stop in his chest. And for one awful, terrible second, it seems that she will. _

_And then she presses back into him, her eyes closed and hands reaching for his hair. He almost cries with relief, passion previously dampened by apprehension rearing to the forefront. His calloused hands carefully reach up to cup the sides of her face as they kiss, lips joined in the most wonderful embrace he may have ever felt. Their breathing is heavy as the sparks within them are ignited, embrace becoming more and more heated. " _Wǒ ài nǐ, wǒ ài nǐ_," he gasps out against her perfect, flushed skin, as her hands pull him closer to her body. _

_" _Wǒ yě ài nǐ_," she pants in return, which may mean "I love you too" but he's not quite sure about it but who. Cares. _

_Right now, he's lost in a blaze of fire and passion and Mei's lips against his and pure heaven. _

_The chemistry that brought them together lies abandoned and wholly forgotten on the table, and neither of them seems to mind. _

**OoOoO**

**I hope you liked it! Drop me a review if you did. Or you hated it. Or it was meh. Or...ya know. You feel like bringing joy to my soul. **


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